Showing posts with label The Lincoln Lawyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Lincoln Lawyer. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Monday, January 19, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 4
Mystery Fanfare: The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 4: The Lincoln Lawyer, Season 4, starts February 5 on Netflix. On trial for a murder he didn’t commit, Mickey must face a relentless DA as he...
Sunday, June 18, 2023
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Review: "The Gods Of Guilt: A Lincoln Lawyer Novel" by Michael Connelly
“’You
know, lawyers have all sorts of nicknames for things, including juries. We call
you people the ‘gods of guilt.’ Not in any sort of disrespect for religion or
faith. But because that is what you are. You sit here and you decide who is guilty
and who is not. Who goes free and who does not. It is a lofty and yet weighty
burden. To make such a difficult decision you must have all the facts. You must
have the whole and true story. You must have the proper interpretation of the
story.’” (p.377)
For defense lawyer Michael Haller it began in November just after he came out of a case where he pushed the boundaries quite a bit. In his new case a man named Andre La Cosse sits in men’s central of the Los Angeles Jail having been arrested for the murder of a woman named Giselle Dallinger. She was 36 and found dead in her apartment after firefighters put out a fire that was apparently ignited in order to hide the homicide. Andre La Cosse is a suspect because, among other things including a recent altercation with the victim he was a modern day pimp as he took care of her website and bookings and received a percentage of her earnings.
But, as Haller digs into the case he soon learns
that Giselle Dallinger used to work under another name. Her real name has huge significance
to him for a variety of reasons. Haller had thought he had helped her get out
of the life and off somewhere doing better things. She wasn’t, but she had told
Andre about Haller and said he was the one to help you needed it. Andre needs
help and lots of it in a complex case that will tragically cost more lives
before it shockingly ends in court.
This latest book in the series is another good one. Old
cases and the quilt that goes with them has long been a theme in the Harry
Bosch series since the beginning. That same theme of an old case and
guilt is very much present here along with the usual angles of greed and human
frailty. The result is a complex read working on many levels and containing one
major shock that this reader never saw coming. Suffice it to say The
Gods Of Guilt: A Lincoln Lawyer Novel is mighty good and absolutely
well worth your time.
The Gods Of Guilt: A Lincoln Lawyer Novel
Michael
Connelly
Little,
Brown and Company (Hachette Book Group)
December
2013
ISBN#
978-0-316-06949-6
Large
Print Hardback (also available in regular print, e-book, and audio formats)
600
Pages
$30.00
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas
Public Library System for my use in an objective review.
During the course of working on this review I came across a very interesting article where Michael Connelly goes into how he develops a book and his routine. The interview is here if you are interested in learning more about the author and his books. For us writer types it is a very interesting piece.
During the course of working on this review I came across a very interesting article where Michael Connelly goes into how he develops a book and his routine. The interview is here if you are interested in learning more about the author and his books. For us writer types it is a very interesting piece.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Review: "The Fifth Witness: A Lincoln Lawyer Novel" by Michael Connelly
In what is arguably the weakest book in a series that began with The Lincoln Lawyer criminal defense attorney Michael Haller takes on the murder case of Lisa Trammel.
Lisa Trammel was already a client for Haller’s exploding business of stopping foreclosure. It is not work Haller likes but the criminal stuff was in short supply due to the bad economy. That same hideous economy created a huge foreclosure business caseload and that has kept things goings for his law practice. Abandoned by her husband and with a nine year old son, Lisa had come to him desperate to save her three bedroom house from being taken in foreclosure by Westland Financial. Lisa has not been the best client Haller could have wanted. Instead of quietly sitting back and letting Haller do the work in court, Lisa has become a publicity hound. She started a grass root internet campaign against those involved in the foreclosure crisis, led demonstrations outside the bank, and in general has refused to take direction from Haller while annoying him with constant questions involving the strategy of her case and other issues. Among many of her targets is Mitchell Bondurant senior vice president at Westland Financial.
In charge of the mortgage loan mess at Westland Financial, his name is on all of Haller’s court paperwork. As far as Haller knew, Lisa Trammel did not know Bondurant and was obeying the restraining order the bank had gotten by staying away from their property. Now the man is dead in a parking garage and Trammel has been arrested for murder. As in earlier books in the series, Haller continues to preach his philosophy that in his role as defense attorney he does not care if his client is innocent or guilty and does not want to know. He does not want anyone involved on his legal team to “grow a conscience.” The job of the defense is to plant enough seeds of doubt with the jury during trial, if it gets that far, that the jury will not find his client guilty. Innocence or not has nothing to do with the case or his actions.
In between defending Lisa Trammel and discovering dirt on others involved, Haller spends a large portion of the book lecturing on the foreclosure crisis currently still gripping the nation. One sided at best, such ranting lectures will no doubt polarize readers as well as pad the word count while stopping the story dead in its tracks. These information dump rants are numerous and repeatedly kill any movement of the story forward while also greatly over simplifying the situation. Story momentum is also frequently stopped dead by Haller’s constant self-references as well as public statements to others on his team that as a defense attorney he does not care if his clients are guilty or innocent. A theme that has been hammered to death for several books now.
A theme that is also blasted apart in the last dozen or so pages of The Fifth Witness
when Haller does something so unbelievable it creates a laugh out loud moment for many long time readers of this series. The result is a read that is average at best and one that is far below the good quality novel readers expect from the very talented Michael Connelly. While an average read created by Michael Connelly is far better than a lot of what is out there these days, this book is a real disappointment as the author can and has done so much better in the past.
when Haller does something so unbelievable it creates a laugh out loud moment for many long time readers of this series. The result is a read that is average at best and one that is far below the good quality novel readers expect from the very talented Michael Connelly. While an average read created by Michael Connelly is far better than a lot of what is out there these days, this book is a real disappointment as the author can and has done so much better in the past.One hopes this is not a sign of things to come where this author is weakened by the current state of publishing today that demands major name authors to crank out multiple books in multiple series faster and faster. That short sighted publishing philosophy weakens the quality of books in general and harms readers in the long run.
The Fifth Witness: A Lincoln Lawyer Novel
Michael Connelly
Little Brown and Company
2011
ISBN# 978-0-316-06936-6
Hardback—Large Print Version
664 Pages
$29.95
Material supplied by the good people of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2011
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